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When I first heard that Journey planned a concert in Panamá City, Panamá, I was unsure if I wanted to buy tickets for the show. On one hand, I love Journey’s music and I grew up hearing the music. Many songs from the group bring vivid memories of those days. However, I worried they were just an over-the-hill band on a tour to cash on their past days of fame. My wife and I decided to go to the concert when a friend told us he was attending the show with a group; we all bought tickets together. That was the best decision we could’ve made!

Journey did not disappoint. On Saturday, April 9, 2011 Journey entered on stage of a packed Figali Convention Center and proceeded with a non-stop energetic concert that kept the audience standing most of the time. Journey blasted their music causing an euphoria that could be felt all around. They played all their hits from the 80′s.

Group’s singer, Arnel Pineda, infused the scene with so much energy that it spilled over from the stage to the fans who were singing and screaming every single song. I have to admit I almost lost my voice myself. His voice resembles in many ways, the signature voice by Steve Perry, but with his own style. This concert felt like they played a two-hours long popurri. It was a continuous flow, a river, of music that splashed everybody. A total of 17 songs were included in the medley.

So O’Hara won’t confirm that the triple-bill of Journey, Foreigner and Night Rangers will play the fair’s grandstand on Aug. 30 and country music Sugarland will appear there on Sept. 3.

“We’re in discussions with them,” O’Hara said this afternoon. “No contracts have been signed at this point.”

Journey played to more than 16,000 at the grandstand for a show with Heart and Cheap Trick in August 2008. Sugarland, led by charismatic singer Jennifer Nettles, was part of the show that drew 17,303 to set a grandstand attendance record when it opened for superstar Kenny Chesney in September 2007.